Apple is reportedly set to announce the iPhone SE 4... indications point to that outcome, anyway. “Get ready to meet the newest member of the family,” Apple CEO Tim Cook posted on X, with an animated image of what looks an awful lot like the Apple logo on the back of an iPhone. The last iPhone SE was announced in 2022. We’re long overdue an upgrade. There are some rumblings it may be called the iPhone 16E instead of the iPhone SE, but we’ll also dig into why that may be the case.
Here’s what you have to look forward to, and when. Apple’s iPhone SE 4 is expected to be announced on Wednesday 19. This is the date Apple CEO Tim Cook himself has teased, so we know something will emerge from Apple on that day. Unlike the biggest of Apple launches, though, there has not been a time announced. Where the company’s flashiest events always kick off at 6pm UK time, new products that only get a debut over a press release often appear earlier in the day.
Tim Cook made his release teaser at 4pm, UK time, so could that also be when the news is sent out?. Apple is yet to announce how much the iPhone SE 4 will cost. The current iPhone SE starts at £429 (64GB), rising to £479 for the 128GB version and £579 for the 256GB storage model. While the new model may be more expensive, it is also likely to cost less than the current price of the iPhone 14, which starts at £599.
We do not expect there to be a full on-stage reveal for the iPhone SE 4. This does not mean there won’t be a video to watch as well as a web page to look over, though. We may get an “introducing” video, like that of the “all-new iPad Pro” from May last year, to show off the phone’s new design. Keep an eye on Apple’s YouTube page on the evening of February 19, or on our news coverage, of course.
The old 2022 iPhone SE has a 4.7-inch screen. The new one is likely to have a 6.1-inch screen. This sounds like a huge difference, but it is more a change of shape than size. The 2022 iPhone SE’s design is like that of flagship iPhones from years ago — like 2017’s iPhone 8 — using a 16:9 screen rather than the much taller styles we’re accustomed to today. That’s out, to be replaced by the display style of the iPhone 14. Bezels are much smaller, the display pushes into the corners of the frame, necessitating a classic iPhone notch, holding the front camera.
This reveals one of the key changes from the 2022 iPhone SE to the 2025 design. The once-beloved Touch ID sensor will finally be purged from the current iPhone range, to be replaced by Face ID, as in the more expensive models. This fundamental change in design will make an iPhone SE 4 look an awful lot like an iPhone 14, at least front-on. And you can still buy one of those, even though it launched in 2022.
The big difference can be seen on the back. Where the iPhone 14 has two rear cameras, the iPhone SE is likely to have just the one. It won’t be the same hardware in that single camera either. Apple’s iPhone SE 4 is rumoured to have a 48-megapixel camera, a newer sensor than the 12MP one of the iPhone 14. You can expect much newer internals too. A leaked spec sheet reveals the iPhone SE 4 will have an Apple A18 chipset, much like the iPhone 16.
This means it’ll be highly likely to support Apple Intelligence. And it takes us back to the original purpose of the iPhone SE series, to deliver top-tier value, at least for an Apple device. It won’t be a technical match for the iPhone 16 in other ways, though, and will reportedly use a less capable 5G modem, for example. One of the last rumours about this soon-to-be-revealed phone is it won’t be called the iPhone SE at all. Some think it may be called the iPhone 16E instead.
This would make it the equivalent to the Samsung Galaxy FE series, or Google’s Pixel A phones. Of course, it’s really still just a rebranding of the long-standing iPhone SE series because the core aim remains largely the same: good tech, less outlay. The iPhone SE family has been around since 2016. At its release, the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus were the flagship phones in the series. It was quite some time ago. Since then it has been updated just twice. Here’s the full list:.
